The Marranos :: essays research papers

Marranos The term marrano refers to the Crypto-Jews from the Iberian peninsula, i.e. descendants of Jews who were forced to adopt the identity of Christians. The term marrano denotes in Spanish "damned," "accursed," "banned"; also "hog," and in Portuguese it is used as an opprobrious epithet of the Jews because they do not eat pork. The name was applied to the Spanish Jews who, through compulsion or for form's sake, became converted to Christianity in consequence of the cruel persecutions of 1391 and of Vicente Ferrer's missionary sermons. These "conversos" (converts), as they were called in Spain, or "Christà £os Novos" (Neo-Christians) in Portugal, or "Xuetes" in the Balearic Isles (from Catalan xua, a local pork concoction that it is said it was consumed in public by Xuetes to show how Christian they were), or "Anusim" (constrained) in Hebrew, numbered more than 100,000. With them the history of the Iberian Peninsula, and indirectly that of the Jews also, enters upon a new phase; for they were the immediate cause both of the introduction of the Inquisition into Spain and of the expulsion of the Jews from that country. The wealthy Marranos, who engaged extensively in commerce, industries, and agriculture, intermarried with families of the old nobility; impoverished counts and marquises unhesitatingly wedded wealthy Jewesses; and it also happened that counts or nobles of the blood royal became infatuated with handsome Jewish girls. Beginning with the second generation, the Neo-Christians usually intermarried with women of their own sect. They became very influential through their wealth and intelligence, and were called to important positions at the palace, in government circles, and in the Cortes; they practised medicine and law and taught at the universities; while their children frequently achieved high ecclesiastical honors. Classes of Marranos The Marranos and their descendants may be divided into three categories. The first of these is composed of those who, devoid of any real affection for Judaism, and indifferent to every form of religion, gladly embraced the opportunity of exchanging their oppressed condition as Jews for the brilliant careers opened to them by the acceptance of Christianity. They simulated the Christian faith when it was to their advantage, and mocked at Jews and Judaism. A number of Spanish poets belong to this category, such as Pero Ferrus, Juan de Valladolid, Rodrigo Cota, and Juan de Espaà ±a of Toledo, called also "El Viejo" (the old one), who was considered a sound Talmudist, and who, like the monk Diego de Valencia, himself a baptized Jew, introduced in his pasquinades Hebrew and Talmudic words to mock the Jews. The Marranos :: essays research papers Marranos The term marrano refers to the Crypto-Jews from the Iberian peninsula, i.e. descendants of Jews who were forced to adopt the identity of Christians. The term marrano denotes in Spanish "damned," "accursed," "banned"; also "hog," and in Portuguese it is used as an opprobrious epithet of the Jews because they do not eat pork. The name was applied to the Spanish Jews who, through compulsion or for form's sake, became converted to Christianity in consequence of the cruel persecutions of 1391 and of Vicente Ferrer's missionary sermons. These "conversos" (converts), as they were called in Spain, or "Christà £os Novos" (Neo-Christians) in Portugal, or "Xuetes" in the Balearic Isles (from Catalan xua, a local pork concoction that it is said it was consumed in public by Xuetes to show how Christian they were), or "Anusim" (constrained) in Hebrew, numbered more than 100,000. With them the history of the Iberian Peninsula, and indirectly that of the Jews also, enters upon a new phase; for they were the immediate cause both of the introduction of the Inquisition into Spain and of the expulsion of the Jews from that country. The wealthy Marranos, who engaged extensively in commerce, industries, and agriculture, intermarried with families of the old nobility; impoverished counts and marquises unhesitatingly wedded wealthy Jewesses; and it also happened that counts or nobles of the blood royal became infatuated with handsome Jewish girls. Beginning with the second generation, the Neo-Christians usually intermarried with women of their own sect. They became very influential through their wealth and intelligence, and were called to important positions at the palace, in government circles, and in the Cortes; they practised medicine and law and taught at the universities; while their children frequently achieved high ecclesiastical honors. Classes of Marranos The Marranos and their descendants may be divided into three categories. The first of these is composed of those who, devoid of any real affection for Judaism, and indifferent to every form of religion, gladly embraced the opportunity of exchanging their oppressed condition as Jews for the brilliant careers opened to them by the acceptance of Christianity. They simulated the Christian faith when it was to their advantage, and mocked at Jews and Judaism. A number of Spanish poets belong to this category, such as Pero Ferrus, Juan de Valladolid, Rodrigo Cota, and Juan de Espaà ±a of Toledo, called also "El Viejo" (the old one), who was considered a sound Talmudist, and who, like the monk Diego de Valencia, himself a baptized Jew, introduced in his pasquinades Hebrew and Talmudic words to mock the Jews.